There's great news for Silicon Valley soccer fans, who will get to enjoy outdoor viewing parties in downtown San Jose of World Cup matches taking place in Rio de Janeiro over the next two months.

The 10 viewing parties -- covering 20 matches in the tournament -- will take place in Plaza de Cesar Chavez and St. James Park thanks to a collaboration among the San Jose Earthquakes, the San Jose Downtown Association and the city. The first party on June 14 will feature four matches between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. and will be followed by a "Starlight Cinema" showing of "Bend It Like Beckham." The first U.S. match shown will be against Ghana on June 16, also at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, at 2:30 p.m. It's debatable which will draw the bigger crowd, that or the Brazil-Mexico game on June 17 at 11:30 a.m.

The Downtown Association and the Earthquakes -- who have two players, Chris Wondolowski and Victor Bernardez, in the tournament, have lots of activities planned for the parties, including food trucks, interactive public art, soccer challenges and live music for the final matches, July 12 and 13 at St. James Park. The Quakes also are having a World Cup final viewing party at the downtown Gordon Biersch, with $30 tickets available to the public.

IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A MUSEUM: Like the changing of the seasons, we can mark the passage of time by the different inflatable characters atop the Children's Discovery Museum in downtown San Jose. On Monday morning, a truck with a three-story-high crane installed the newest temporary tenant to the museum's rooftop, a 15-foot-tall mouse who is the star of the children's book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." The mouse is there to draw attention to the museum's new summer exhibit, "Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites."

The roof is normally the resting spot of Discovery Duck, but that affable fowl has lent her perch to various other critters over the years, including a mammoth, a particularly curious monkey and an otter with a penchant for water.

HONORED BAND: Musicians from all around the United States have arrived in France to help commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day. San Jose Wind Symphony Executive Director Jan Turnage, part of a group of 21 musicians from the symphony, reports that they arrived in Paris on Sunday. They'll have a couple of rehearsals and a concert before heading out to perform at a small ceremony under the baton of retired Col. Arnald Gabriel, conductor emeritus of the U.S. Air Force Band and a D-Day veteran

The San Jose Wind Symphony will be continuing the patriotic streak closer to home when it performs its annual Fourth of July concert at 1:30 p.m. at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos.